Winning is all that matters

Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech…that’s who Oregon will beat up on the first three weeks of the football season. Big names? No. Great schedule? Without a doubt. When it comes to college football, it’s all about winning. The longer you have a zero in the loss column the higher you go in the rankings. When you’re a team looking for national respect, you go out and play Michigan, Tennessee, Oklahoma and the LSU’s of the football world. Oregon has done that in the past and that’s why they sit where they are today. The Ducks enter the season ranked fifth in preseason polls. When you come in at five, it’s time to schedule cupcakes the first few weeks of the year.  The Ducks only need to jump three spots and they find themselves in the national championship, where, when you’re sitting in the 20’s or just outside the top 25, you have a lot of ground to make up and the easiest way to do that is to schedule the big boys and hope you knock them off. It’s a different time/era in Eugene and I can’t argue with the schedule.

If you go undefeated in a major conference, chances are, you will play for the national title. So, why risk a loss in the preseason if you’re Oregon? It doesn’t make sense. I understand some fans/media would like to see a better opponent but what’s wrong with winning and being happy? A perfect example comes from last years Ducks schedule where they opened with LSU and lost. What good did that game do for Oregon? The loss pretty much wiped out any shot of a national title. The way the BCS is set up, it’s better to get an easy win and get ready for the next game. Let’s play the “what if” game for a second. (I’m not a fan of the “what if” game but I think it makes my point in this situation.) We replay Oregon’s season from last year but instead of Alejandro Maldondado missing the last second field goal against USC, he makes it and the Ducks go on to win that game in overtime. The Ducks finish the season with just one loss but still find themselves on the outside looking in at the BCS title game because LSU and Alabama would have both finished higher in the BCS standings. Now, let’s play last season out the same way but insert Arkansas State in place of LSU. Oregon handles Arkansas State with ease and again get the overtime win against USC. The Ducks finish the season undefeated and find themselves back in the national title game. The BCS would have put Oregon up against LSU. Two power conferences with two undefeated teams would have faced off for the title before Alabama would have got it’s rematch.

The BCS rewards teams for winning, not for who they schedule. In fact, if I was Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott I would change the entire Pac 12 schedule. The Pac 12 plays nine league games and has a title games. No other conference does that. I would change it from a three game non conference schedule to a four game non conference schedule and play eight regular season games. The only thing the ninth league game does is ensure the conference six more losses. Why not play a fourth non conference game and play mostly cupcakes as a whole?  This would give the conference a chance to win more games. Washington is playing LSU this year, Arizona State was at Illinois last year etc…playing those games only hurt the conference. Go play teams you know you can beat and move up in the rankings. This would allow the Pac 12 to go from a guaranteed 6-6 record in the ninth week of conference play to possibly going 12-0 in the fourth week of non-conference. Look at the SEC, the best conference in America. Why do you think they have so many teams ranked in the top 25 and reach bowl games each year? Well, they’re damn good but the non conference schedule is a big help too. For the most part, each school gets four easy non conference games. They take care of business in all four and all they have to do is win two league games the rest of the season to become bowl eligible. You might not like the BCS system and the early season schedule for Oregon but they’re doing it the right way. Again, a win over Arkansas State and a zero in the loss column is a lot better than a loss to a top ranked team. Just Sayin.

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